Jabez

The name Jabez attaches in Chronicles to two distinct entries: a city in Judah where families of scribes settled, and the head of a family whose short prayer is preserved in a genealogical aside. Both notices come from the Chronicler's tribal lists for Judah.

A City in the Tribe of Judah

Among the Judahite material in Chronicles, Jabez surfaces as a settlement: "And the families of scribes who dwelt at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab" (1Ch 2:55). The verse places scribal Kenite families at the city and ties them back to the house of Rechab.

The Head of a Family

The other entry breaks out of the genealogy into narrative for two verses: "And Jabez was more honorable than his brothers: and his mother named him Jabez, saying, Because I bore him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that it is not to my sorrow! And God granted him that which he requested" (1Ch 4:9-10). The name is glossed by his mother's word for sorrow at his birth; the prayer asks for blessing, enlarged border, divine presence, and protection from evil and sorrow, and is answered.